context because there weren't any cameras and it wasn't in public. i'm just saying. but the fact that they're saying she won't talk to them is deeply deeply false. "first look" is up next. good morning to you. right now on "first look" a severe weather threat across parts of the central and eastern parts of the u.s. we are in the 11th hour of a possible iran nuclear agreement. will there be a deal? the religious freedom moves from indiana to a arkansas governor. >> we want to be known as a state that does not discriminate but understands tolerance. >> arkansas will rewrite the bill to avoid an indiana-style backlash. >> i think, and i love indiana. i was born in indiana. all my friends are in indiana but i think indiana has gone nuts. today they banned same sex koor

pools. >> "first look" starts right now. good morning. thanks for joining us. the whole sworld watching but are we close? through the night top diplomats try to hammer out a nuclear deal with iran two days after the deadline and today an inside look at strategy. president obama apparently told diplomats to ignore initial deadline but to be prepared to walk away from the table. emphasizing there are alternatives including military and economic options. yesterday a tough talk from the iranian foreign minister who insisted we may not get another chance at this. >> i certainly hope that our colleagues will recognize the fact that this is a unique opportunity that will be deplete depleteddeplete depleted and they need to attack advantage of this opportunity. >> what's the biggest issue on

the table? >> reporter: well it apoors that one of the major issues on the table here relates to sanctions. the question here is whether the united states and the european union can ease sanctions on oil banking and gas which would be separate to the u.n. sanctions imposed on iran. iran has always wanted the sanctions removed in one place. there's been a flury of meetings. offers. and the two sides are trying to bridge the gaps but it isn't going that well. the rhetoric from both sides has sharpened. foreign ministers are saying iran needs to be showed respect while the white house not eeg wanting to look too eager. iran doesn't respond to pressure especially from the united states but they're around the negotiating table and talking and trying to come to a compromise. whether they'll be able to issue

a statement today showing they have the concrete ground to go forward and reach a comprehensive settlement by the thirtieth of june is unseen. back to you, betty. >> the clock is ticking. we are covering breaking news out of africa right now. armed gunman have stormed a university in kenya firing wildly into crowds of peel and setting off explosions. there are varying reports of the numb of students killed. it is believed as many as 30 have been wounded in that attack. the militant group al shabaab has taken credit for the attack. there are reports of hostages being held. a deadly catastrophe in the gulf of mexico. an explosion on an oil platform. it killed four people and dozens are injured. over 30 0 workers were

evacuated. 2 are in critical condition. late last night they tweeted the fire on the platform was dying and the platform has not collapsed it's been a major controversy all week but today be prepared for new developments on freedom measures in arkansas and indiana that some say give businesses the right to discriminate. we are live in indianapolis. lawmakers worked late into the night. what are they trying to accomplish? >> reporter: trying to accomplish some language that will make it clear discrimination not allowed here as well as in arkansas. lawmakers working into the night rewriting portions of the bill hoping to find a compromise before this weekend. time is running autofor lawmakers trying to modify the law before the easter break which starts tomorrow and the final four which tips off in

indianapolis this weekend. >> we just are going to fix it. we've got to bring this to a close in a positive way reassuring everyone that indiana does not discriminate. >> we are arkansas. >> reporter: the clock is ticking in arkansas as well where wednesday the governor refused to sign a similar measure urging lawmakers to reword parts of the bill. >> my position is clear. i've asked them to remedy it. i've asked them to change the current law and i've asked them to recall it and change the language on it. >> reporter: opponents say it's a start. >> to me it's a huge glimmer of hope that things might start to change. >> reporter: but others want it to go one step further. clearly many still have something to say about the

issue. >> to seech his own. >> i think the governor should veto it. >> reporter: and the ongoing debate. that debate could continue next week as well when nevada lawmakers expected to move on a religious freedom bill there. that's the latest live in indianapolis. back to you. >> thank you very much. now to a major political scandal that is plays out. the likes of which we've only seen 11 other times in the history of our country. a sitting united states senator is indicted. new jersey democrat robert menendez is accused of taking more than a million dollars of gifts and contributions from a long-time friend. tracie potts is live with us. the senator says he is innocent. >> reporter: he does and even though he's stepping down for now, he insists that prosecutors are dead wrong. >> i will not be silenced. i am confident at the end of the day i will be vindicated.

>> reporter: robert menendez faces broad and bribery charges for what prosecutors describe in more than a million dollars in lavished gifts, flight on a private jet paid for by his friend an eye doctor in florida. >> i'm angry because prosecutors don't know the difference between friendship and corruption. >> reporter: the gifts prosecutors considering were in exchange for help getting millions in medicare reimbursements honoring a security contract and getting visas for the doctor's girlfriends. menendez has temporarily stepped down. democrats say he's innocent until proving guilty. >> it's not illegal for a friend to help a friend. it could be bad government. >> reporter: the justice department argued in this case it's illegal. >> now that hearing that we expect him to appear at today is

in a federal court in new jersey. >> thank you so much for that live report. and right now seven minutes past the hour. let's get down to business. >> good morning to you. mcdonald's is raising its minimum wage at its company owned locations and will start offering vacation benefits. 90,000 employees are expected to see a boost in july and the increase follows similar trends from walmart and target. shares of go daddy soaring. the web posting shows up to the valuulation expended to $4 billion. the company generated net losses from 2014. honda debuting a new long on a well known car. the civic concept car yesterday

was unveiled. it has a big rear spoiler. it is the second best selling car in the u.s. over to you. >> i used to have one of those back in the day. didn't look anything like the new one. pretty cool. now to sports. tennis star serena williams the tennis star won. she advanced to the semi finals. after the win she was given this cake. congratulations to her. this one on the ice. scoring the 300th goal of an nhl career but the pens lost. rocket star james harden strengthens his case for this year's mvp. he scores 51 points. they won over the kings. check out this shiner. it looks pretty nasty.

she accidentally got elbowed by his own teammate during pregame warmups. he scored 19 against the pacers as the celtics win. spring baseball in florida, a fan loses his fight with gravity. he takes a tumble over the rail. taking a bow to the cheering crowd before of course being escorted off by security. and then there is this. marriott square going around. the rider takes a horrible fall. >> horrible is right. oh, my goodness. the jockey took a nasty fall in england. he lost control just before jumping over the 3 1/2 food hurdle. as you see he was able to walk it off. his horse was uninjured. >> on the auction block was this

mets classic 1967 bull pen cart. they sold the item on e-bay for a whopping 90,000 bucks. ten minutes past the our. robert durst faces a judge today. plus california battles an epic drought. the scene from space of a massive typhoon looming large. bill karins is back with where it's headed and syriaevere weather here in the u.s. in my world, wall isn't a street. return on investment isn't the only

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welcome back to "first look." amazing pictures from our friends up in space. at the international space station, this is the view of super typhoon maysak. incredible shots. images you don't typically see from that elevation. these are the views that we typically see that are much higher in orbit than the international space station. still a super typhoon but on a weakening trend.

that's great news. more likely we call a category 1 storm. they will see problems and damage and rain and flooding but not a devastating blow from like a super typhoon. strong storms out there this morning. not a lot of severe weather yesterday. no tornadoes of any significance. a lot of heavy rain. kansas city gets the award for the worst morning commute around the country. later the storms will regenerate into a strong line of storms. indiana and kentucky and portions of northern kentucky and southern missouri that's where we could see the worst of the storms and also st. louis, champagne and cincinnati could see storms. tomorrow more toward nashville, alabama, and mississippi. a lot of wind damage and hail. >> get ready. california is taking drastic steps to combat its historic multiyear drought. the governor has ordered the

state's first ever water restrictions. the executive order requires a cut in usage of water by 25%. >> one thing we know is we're standing on dry grass and we should be standing in five feet of snow. that's how it's been. we're in a historic drought and that demands unprecedented action. >> california farmers grow about half of all produce eaten in the u.s. million heir robert durst heads to a courthouse today. authorities want him extradited to california in connection with to the murder of susan berman. >> someone hung a nus and students marched on campus chanting we are not afraid. we stand together. school officials sentd an e-mail saying the person responsible will be held fully accountable.

>> and charges of assault and resisting arrest dropped against a motorist who was pulled from his car during a traffic stop. dash cam shows him being beat by an officer. the man still faces a drug possession charge. he says officers planted cocaine in his car. >> cruz to new york? lewinsky to the view and unwed couples living together are breaking the law. scrambled politics is next. won't keep you up at night. know you have insights from professional investment strategists to help set your mind at ease. know that planning for retirement can be the least of your worries. with the guidance of a pnc investments financial advisor, know you can get help staying on track for the future you've always wanted.

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coming up on 20 minutes past the hour. here's scrambled politics. despate national protests senator ted cruz told an audience in iowa he thinks the item could unite republicans. . take a listen here to david letterman. >> ted cruz also moving to new york city. looking for an apartment with a narrow view. >> in florida a law from the year 1868 has people talking because right now that law says unwed cohabitation or living with another person before major is actually punishable by 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

they say half a million couples are in violation, so legislators are getting with the times and moving to change that law. the justice department says it will not charge former irs official with criminal contempt. he refused to testify over accusations that the irs targeted conservative groups. remember this? >>ly not answer any questions or testify about the subject matter of this committee's meeting. i will not answer any questions or testified today. i decline to answer that question for the reasons i have already given. >> well, could lewinski by a host on the view? that's the rumor. they're reporting barbara walters is the one pushing for it. michelle balkman's facebook post has people outrage. he wrote this the iran deal barack obama is for the 300

souls for the united states which andre use lubitz was for the flight. an entire nation driving into the rocks. the shocked survivors will ask why did he do it? >> and the so-called king of fashion project runway tim dun weighed in on lawmaker's fashion sense. he says male politicians that need suits that fit them better citing chris christie in particular. >> christy looks as though he could potentially go into walmart and start shoplifting and no one would be able to tell. >> oh man, that was a little rough but that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. in washington let's bring in bob franken. in a nicely suit there. nicely-fitted suit. garng to you. >> i wouldn't go that far but at least as far as tv can see. >> you're looking good. >> between that facebook post by

michelle balkman and the last comments and we almost need to take a shower. >> it was rough. and wait a second. let's talk about robert menendez. he's one of few sitting senators in indict indict indicted. how strong is the case? >> the prosecutors would say they have a strong case. it's been a year-long investigation that he and his close friend, a an eye doctor who lives in florida involved in some influence pedaling and men endez says he's going to fight but thus far the federal government is proceeding aggressively. >> and menendez is temporarily stepping down as a ranking democrat on the foreign relations committee. let's look at the effects. what could this mean for u.s. foreign policies.

>> he joined the. s in his opposition to any emerging deal from with between iran and the united states, and he had also been opposed. he's a cuban immigrant. he has been opposed to what's going on with cuba. it's probably going to mean he's going to have less influence and less ability to block the endeavors. >> now to indiana lawmakers scrambling to change the law before it takes effect and the governor of arkansas is changing a bill. are republicans doing an about face? >> apparently republicans are being humiliated exempt for those like ted cruz. they probably were blind sided by this and had no idea that the last ten years have shown a total reversal in the attitude toward gays in the united states. >> all right.

bob, looking sharp and we appreciate your insight. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> just ahead convictions in a massive cheating scandal? atlanta. how can you just stand there? what do you mean? your grass man, it's famished. with just two springtime feedings with scotts turf builder lawn food helps strengthen and protects your

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on msnbc.com this morning 1 atlanta educators. dating back to 2005 motivated by frosh meet standards and receive bonuses to keep their jobs. 23 others reached plea agreements while one was acquitted. john lennon's first wife died after facing a long battle with

cancer. and what are the chances of winning the lottery twice? this british couple did it. one million british pounds after winning their first million british pounds in 2013. "way too early" starts now. ♪ ♪ ♪ it's being reported that hillary clinton has hired a research director to generate positive stories about her in the news. so they can move past her e-mail scandal. it seems they're really trying to make her look good. first here's hilly invents method for getting sun into the capri sun. >> a 20 minute window instead of

a two-hour window. then this. hillary mere cats bill mumbling to himself in bathroom wins internet. and finally hillary says all gawk moly on me. thank you, hilly. >> good morning and welcome to "way too early." it's april the second. we begin today in indiana where a deal has reportedly been struck to revise the religious freedom law. they are reporting lawmakers are going to announce this morning a proposal that's going to clarify the law and ensures businesses can't discriminate against gay and lesbian couples. but this doesn't go as far as establishing them as a protected class of citizens. this comes in a day in which we've got a basketball tournament coming up.